TASTE: Mellow fruit notes, cinnamon spice, pepper and brown sugar. Hint of dark fruits and dusty cocoa. Soft bitterness to cover the sweet caramel like maltyness. A bit of ginger and juicy citrus. Cinnamon, sugar and toasted malt are the big notes, and everything works well together. For its boasting strength (8% abv) the alcohol is well disguised in the taste.

FEEL: Full bodied, smooth and medium level of carbonation. Clean finish with a touch of cinnamon and cocoa riding out the flavors.

OVERALL: A rather impressive winter offering from the Brew Kettle. Mellow, yet complex and all the flavors are well integrated. Easy drinking, and a perfect way to stay warm during the cold winter months.

More User Reviews:

I had the most drinkable beer from them...White Rajah, now this may be the most challenging beer to drink from them. Pours a brilliant ruby color with a light white wispy head forms fine scattered lacing. Aroma has honey additions jumping out with minimal background spice hints of cinnmaon/ginger/no citrus peel in the nose as the label states. Okay maybe a touch of citrus peel going on. All of the flavor seems to explode with your first sip, booze is detectable with bitter unrelenting spices from the cabinet cinnamon, ginger, and citrus peel for sure with the honey really kicking up the level of sweetness. The flavors mesh more so as it warms a bit, this just hasn't been my favorite style and it seems that every microbrewer in Ohio thinks they need to make one to compete with Great Lakes Christmas ale. Can become a bit cloying with the spices finishes a bit dry from the spice resins left behind, medium bodied moderate carbonation. Overall this just isn't my beer, one that I can enjoy on a limited basis so I'm glad it's made once a year, increase production on the White Rajah and make the craft beer fans of Ohio much happier than this offering does.

This beer is a solid, deep and clear red-orange. It's not dark enough to be brown, but it is close to it. The tan head grows to a finger in height, sticks around for a minute and fades down to foam. Moderate spotty lacing remains on the glass.
The aroma is a mix of dark fruits and spicing with a slight tinge of booziness. There's a good amount of sweetness detectable in it with citrus notes. Caramel mingles with spicing both sweet and otherwise. It's a pretty good rendition of a good spiced holiday loaf/cake.
The taste follows suit, caramel and toffee sweetness along with breads from a nice malt backbone along with cinnamon and ginger, maybe some allspice as well. Lots of dark fruits pull the tongue in a few different but similar directions with some nuttiness underlying.
The body is medium and has a light bit of crispness but could use just a little more to keep it lively. Likewise the smoothness, as there's just enough to keep it rolling but not quite as much as it should. Alcohol thins it out just a touch of the end. On the plus side, it keeps from cloying or astringency.

Color is on the darker side of amber. Aroma is more citrus and less spice than I anticipated. The taste leans on the citrus side, too. Lots of orange and even some lemon peel. Spices are noticeable in the background with cinnamon and fresh ginger. In this, the warmth comes not from the spices, but from the 8% ABV. The booze in this one will sneak up on you!

Haven't had a Winter Warmer quite like this. Definitely citrus dominant rather than spice dominant, but it's rather tasty.

Winter Warmer (formerly Ringneck) brewed by ,The Brew Kettle Taproom & Smokehouse / Production Works. This brew has an ABV of 8.0% Now for the pour, this brew pours out a nice brown color with a small white head. The smell is rich with sweetness, grains and malts. This is a vary inviting brew. Winter Warmer has a nice rich taste, you pick up on spices and malts in this brew. This brew has a nice balance to it, there is nothing overpowering in this brew. The mouthfeel is nice, smooth and clean. You can not pick up on the 8.0% of this brew. The Brew Kettle Taproom & Smokehouse / Production Works did a nice job with this one. I would get this brew again.

Winter Warmer (formerly Ringneck) - The Brew Kettle Taproom & Smokehouse / Production Works. Poured from the bottle into a pint glass, this brew's got a 1 finger thick eggshell brown head with spottier lacing, and a medium-dark brown and amber body.

Smells like spiced molasses, indeed. Not much of a hop presence, nor alcohol astringency. I like this , as it 8% abv.

I taste caramelized malts, along with said holiday spices of the usual cinnamon, nutmeg,clove, etc. Again, quite smooth considering the alcohol content of this beer. This also doen't have much hop presence, which I totally fine with. I feel like it would clash elements of smooth roastyness and sharp bitterness. Very nicely done!

This beer's mouthfeel I'm picking up is very clean. Yet again, I'm mainly referring to the 8% abv. I don't know about you, fellow BA's, but I've had winter warmers that could easily have passed as a Scotch ale.

Overall, a 4.25 for Winter Warmer (formerly Ringneck) - The Brew Kettle Taproom & Smokehouse / Production Works. A very smooth-drinking beer, but don't let it get to you, or you'll get hit with a ton of metaphoric bricks when it creeps up on you. I was very impressed and will buy this again.